1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network system and method therefor that is capable of managing information maintained in multiple devices present on a network without involving a special management application and/or server and without imposing load on the network.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, network supporting apparatus increase which include printers and home electronics. So, communication protocols for use between devices on a network, mechanisms for device discovery and installation, and specifications of printing services have been standardized.
Standard communication protocols for client PCs to utilize networking apparatuses more generically and/or services for facilitating use of devices have been standardized, e.g., Web Service for Devices (WSD), Universal Plug&Play (UPnP) (registered trademark), and Bonjour (Rendezvous) (registered trademark).
The WSD is a standard specification defined for accommodating demands for various services using devices. Basically, the WSD uses a Web service architecture, providing standardized communication protocols and a printing service.
Such a network system exists that includes a representative device to collect information on devices on a network, non-representative devices that are under management of the representative device, and a management apparatus to manage the network system based on device information collected by the representative device.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-186765 proposes a method for reducing load on a management apparatus and a network in such a network system by having the representative device collect device information which is broadcast by non-representative devices when the devices join the network system and transmit all collected information to the management apparatus.
In information managed by the representative apparatus, there may be past information that cannot be re-collected once lost, but that can be useful, such as individual users' printing history, performance log for network communication, and/or operational status of apparatuses, for example.
The conventional technique mentioned above, however, allows the representative device to maintain only information obtained when a non-representative device joins the network. Therefore, when a changeover between the representative device and a non-representative takes place on the network, past information on the non-representative apparatus cannot be inherited.
On the other hand, a method is possible that has the representative device collect information on a non-representative device after the non-representative device joins the network, by polling. This method, however, has a problem of heavy load being placed on the network because communication traffic is produced at all times.